A research led by Paulina Jaramillo, an assistant professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University has concluded that air pollution caused in the United States caused by energy production caused at least $131 billion in damage in 2011 along.
The staggering economic cost of air pollution https://t.co/WSFN0RBFzZ #ClimateHour http://pic.twitter.com/YIka9l59J9
— #ClimateHour (@ClimateHour) January 30, 2016
While the statistics sound formidable, it displays a sign of improvement, because a similar report concluded that the damage was worth $175 billion in 2002. The decline in the overall economic damage because of air pollution is the result of rigid emissions regulation on the energy sector in the U.S.
“The bulk of the cost of emissions is the result of health impacts — so morbidity and particularly mortality,” said the paper’s lead author, Paulina Jaramillo.
Researchers also calculate the monetary damage caused by the emission of a particular type of pollutant which is then associated with the monetary value on the health effects. Several models are used to perform the analysis and determine a “social cost” associated with the harmful emission that have a direct impact on health.
A research paper published in the journal Energy Policy has analyzed the same using an up-to-date model and set of data recorded from the Environmental Protection Agency on emissions from the energy sector. The estimates regarding the monetary damage caused by air pollution from energy production between 2002 to 2011 are estimated.
“This paper is another one in a long progression, dating back at least 40 years or so, of papers that have tried to quantify the human health damage associated with earth pollution,” said Jason Hill, an associate professor of bioproducts and biosystems engineering at the University of Minnesota.
National Academy of Sciences also published a paper in 2010 that performed research on the costs related to air pollution produced by energy extraction and its use. With a similar approach and model, questionable updates were made, because of which Jaramillo and Nicholas Muller, an associate professor of economics at Middlebury College, performed their own research and focused on four different sectors that involved electric power generation, oil and gas extraction, coal mining and the activities of oil refineries.
“Within those sectors, the five types of emissions they singled out were sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, volatile organic compounds and fine particulate matter. The EPA updates its data every three years, so the researchers zoomed in on the years 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011, and they represented their results in 2000 dollars — that is, the value of the U.S. dollar in the year 2000,” reports The Washington Post.
Several researches done on the effects of air pollution and water pollution has lead to the conclusion that there are more deaths in the world because of the former. The increase in indoor and outdoor pollution in countries like India, Pakistan, and Iran among others has posed a serious threat in recent years to human lives and environment mostly.
Air pollution is a growing global problem, latest Environmental Performance Index states: https://t.co/DjKBWLgzh8 http://pic.twitter.com/QgJzD161aT
— The Climate Group (@ClimateGroup) January 28, 2016
More people now die from air #pollution than malaria & #HIV combined, study says https://t.co/a6Dc2yhiUg http://pic.twitter.com/YxzmdXldhS
— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) January 24, 2016
Recently, U.S. Steel has been a part of a debate and is considered to being sued by groups as the nation’s largest coke plant continues to emit excessive particulate including sulfur dioxide and several other toxins that are detrimental to public.
Good question young brother. "How much did the US Steel M. Longhi CEO make in 2014?" #StandUpForSteel http://pic.twitter.com/WR23blSggi
— STAC (@USWSTAC) January 30, 2016
George Jugovic Jr., chief counsel for PennFuture — a statewide environmental group — said “U.S. Steel has failed to take necessary steps to improve air quality and regulatory agencies have failed to take action.
“The facility continues operating more than 45 years after the Clean Air Act was passed, and it’s actually time for them to begin controlling emissions.”
The company, however, has declined comments on PennFuture’s pending legal action, which is set to be filed in the U.S. District court.
Air Pollution Caused A Staggering $131 Billion Economic Damage In U.S. is an article from: The Inquisitr News
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